Fitz and the Fox
by Honestly Who Cares
Summary: "Must you always take your pet with you wherever you go, Mr. Vacker?" "He's not a pet," Fitz said, "he's a companion."
1. Meeting Kaye

**Hey guys! Nelly here! So I got a lot of good reviews for my stranger things kotlc AU so I think I'm gonna go with it! A forewarning that the updates might be slow as I also have to update on my other stories on wattled and such. Anyways, I thought would try something a little bit different and make a oneshot based on this cute little idea I've been having for a while. It's a little altered version of some of Sophie's adventures through the lost cities. I hope you enjoy it! P.S: It might not make any sense to you as to why Keefe is tagged up in the character bar. Trust me- he'll show up in the story at one point. just wait and see.**

Sophie sighed as she trudged behind her senior year class, wishing that the fieldtrip to the museum would just come to an end already. Having already been yelled at the teacher and received many glares from her classmates and curious looks from passerby (as he face is plastered on the front of many newspapers and magazines), all she wanted to do was go home and curl up in her room, where the voices weren't as strong. She sighed again as she tried to tune out the racing thoughts from people nearby, wishing she weren't such a freak:

And at that moment, she saw him.

Standing by a display of magazines, holding a newspaper that had an embarrassing picture f her on the front of it, was a boy with dark brunette hair. He seemed to be around the age of fifteen or so and was, without a doubt, the most attractive boy Sophie had ever seen. So she had no idea why he was showing interest in a newspaper article that was about her- actually, she had no idea why he was showing interest in an article, period. Most kids around her age wouldn't even lay their eyes on a newspaper, let alone actually read one.

She felt herself blush profusely when she met eyes with the boy. His eyes were the most vibrant and beautiful shade of teal she had ever seen. He seemed to be looking at her in what almost seemed like- disappointment? Sophie briefly wondered why, but her attention was quickly taken over by another little factor she had noticed: she couldn't hear is thoughts.

Not one word or even sound was heard in her head when she laid eyes on the brunette. His mind was completely quiet- she'd never experienced a mind like that before. Sophie at first thought that his were just blended in with everyone else's, but when she concentrated on him and his thoughts, there were none for her go hear. She found it strange that the boy had such a quiet mind. Did he just not think or something? …..Is that even possible?

"Is this you?"

Gazing upwards, Sophie realized that the boy was now standing beside her, gesturing towards the picture of her. She tried to reply but couldn't find herself capable of doing so, blushing heavily instead. Having little experience with talking to boys (especially cute ones) Sophie found herself at a loss of words. So she nodded as a response, trying to subdue her blush. "I thought so," the boy said and squinted down at the picture. "I didn't realize your eyes were brown." Sophie frowned at that. "um, yeah….Why?" She asked, genuinely curious as to why he pointed them out. What was so special about her boring brown eyes anyways? Especially since he was the one it the unique ones.

The boy smiled at her. "No reason," he said simply, then turned and pointed to the sculpture of the albertosaurus they were currently standing by, asking her if people really thought that they looked like that. "It's a bit absurd, isn't it?" he asked, looking like he was trying to suppress a smile of amusement. Sophie turned herself and looked at the sculpture. She couldn't see anything wrong with it- it seemed like a perfectly normal depiction of the albertosaurus to her. She looked at the brunette and shrugged. "Not really," she said. "Why? What do _you_ think they look like?" she asked him, although she really couldn't imagine the dinosaur looking like anything else.

A chuckle came from the boy's mouth as he shook his head lightly. "Never mind," he said, giving her a charming smile that made her blush again. "It was nice meeting you Sophie." as he began to turn away from her, a bunch of toddler suddenly ran in between them. _"Oh no,"_ Sophie thought to herself and immediately clutched her head in pain as their loud and energetic voices spiked in her brain. She groaned, and started to massage her temples in an effort to soothe her aching mind- but she wasn't the only one in pain.

Sophie's lips parted in shock when she saw that the boy was in a similar position as she was. Although she had missed the faint sound of growling and how the boy was subtly patting his satchel bag, sh focused in on the way he was clutching his head and gritting his teeth. Almost as if he had…. Sophie gasped and the boy looked up at her, an equally shocked expression written on his face. "Did you…hear that?" he asked her, his voice barely above a whisper. Sophie almost replied but stopped herself. "Who are you?" she asked instead, not about to give her secret up to a complete stranger.

However, the look on her face must've gave it away because the boy straightened himself, looking at her with wonder. "You did, din't you?" he asked- well, are like stated- completely awestruck. "I can't believe it- you're a telepath!" Sophie found herself flinching at the word and slowly started backing away, not exactly liking where this was going. The boy noticed this and put his hand out as if he were trying to tame an animal. "It's okay; you don't have to be afraid. I'm one too," he informed her cautiously. "My name is Fitz?" _Fitz_? What kind a name is that? Sophie looked at him warily, not sure if he was telling her the truth or not. Once again, Fitz picked up on her emotions because he promptly said, "I'm not lying," and continued to inch his towards her.

Feeling overwhelmed and generally exposed, Sophie found herself starting to become faint on her feet. She tried to compose herself and calm her mind down, but it proved itself useless and she started sobbing about on her feet. She would've fallen right then and there if it weren't for Fitz, who reached out his arms to steady her. "It's okay Sophie, you don't have to be afraid; we've been looking for you for twelve years!" Fitz told her. Sophie looked at him, her eyes wide. Looking for her for twelve years? Why were people searching for her for so long- why were they searching for her in general?! And who was 'we'?

So much was coming a her right now and it was too much for her brain to handle. She needed air- she needed it now. Springing from Fit'z arms, Sophie ran out the nearest door as fast as her feet could take her, ignoring the calls telling her to wait from Fitz behind her. In her haste, she didn't notice the car speeding towards her as she raced to cross the road until it honked at her. Sophie turned her attention coming straight to her and her eyes widened with fear:

She was about to die.

* * *

Fitz mentally cursed himself when he saw the car speeding toward Sophie. _"Oh, good going Fitz,"_ he thought sarcastically to himself. _"You finally find the girl you've been searching twelve years for, only to end up killing her a few minutes after meeting her."_ He winced as the car got dangerously close to Sophie. "And the grand prize for the most epic failure of the year goes to-" Fitz's attention was suddenly grabbed by the car swerving to the side, inches before it could hit her, before slamming right into the stoplight. The slight ray of relief and hope Fitz had felt instantly vanquished as the light started to tumble down towards Sophie. "Oh please no," he breathed out as he saw Sophie scream and instinctively hold her hands out- only to widen his eyes in shock when the light stopped falling completely.

Fitz gated at the sight. He knew that elves had telekinesis, but he's never seen someone have it that strong- especially from a child her age. Sophie herself seemed to not understand what she did or how she id it because she looked up at the stoplight with awe. It was then that Fitz started to notice people staring, which caused him to panic. So far, this was not going nearly as smoothly as he had originally planned.

"Put it down," he told her and she looked at him, eyes widening, completely losing her concentration as she cried out and dropped her hands, causing the light to go back into free fall instantly. "Look out!" Fitz shouted and managed to yank her out of the way before the light crushed her. The two of them lost their balance and Sophie ended up on top of Fitz on the ground. He looked at her with thorough shock. "How did you do that?" he whispered to her. He'd never seen such powerful telekinesis before.

Sophie looked back at him, eyes widened with shock. "I have no idea," she said truthfully, sitting herself up. A growl was suddenly audible in the air. Sophie looked around strangely, wondering where the noise had came from while Fitz quite swore under his breath. He'd have to soothe the animal after they were out of sight. "We need to get out of here," he said, earning her attention quickly as he posted to the nearby driver who looked at the two like he'd just seen a ghost. Sophie gasped. "He saw…" she said, nothing less than horrified. Fitz pulled her to her feet. "Is there a place that we can go where there's not a lot of people?" he asked her, ignoring the fidgeting that was happening in his satchel bag.

The brown eyed elf pointed to a direction, and the two of them ran over there, even though Fitz knew the area wasn't secluded, having already passed there. However, he understood that he probably just spooked the girl a bit so he could understand her concerns of being in a secluded area alone with him. After all, it wasn't every day that some random dude just showed up and changed your entire life.

Once they go there, Sophie instantly started asking questions. Fitz ran a nervous hand through his hair. "Listen, I didn't know it was going to be you. I wasn't even supposed to talk to you. But I had to make sure- you just don't make any sense," he told her. "What does that mean?" she asked him. Fitz felt like kicking himself for saying something so stupid. He sighed and tried again. "your eyes really threw me off," he said truthfully. "Whats wrong with my eyes?" she asked, sounding a little self-conscious. This time Fitz had to clench a fist in order to prevent him from actually slapping himself. A pretty girl like Sophie shouldn't feel self-conscious! Wow, he was not good at this.

"Nothings wrong with them. It's just that- well, all our eyes are blue," he explained. "Our?" Sophie inquired, looking at him weirdly. Fitz nodded and took a deep breath, trying to prepare himself for the large amount of disbelief that he knew he'd be hit with after saying this sentence; "Yes, 'our': We're not human, Sophie."

At first Sophie looked at him like he actually needed medical help before laughing at him right there and then. "Oh, not human- riiiiiiiiggghhht," she said sarcastically. Fitz closed his eyes and took a deep breath before opening them again. "I'm telling the truth," he said rather lamely, knowing she wouldn't believe him anyways. Her response was turning an walking away from him. He groaned and started to run after her. "Where are you going?" He asked. Sophie scoffed. "You're crazy- and I'm even more crazy for trusting you!" She called back. Fitz plead with her o wait a moment and she finally gave in, turning back to face him. "Can humans do this?" he asked before blinking in and out of sight. She looked at him ad if he'd just grown two heads. "How did you do that?" she breathed out. "You can do it to if you really concentrate- I'm telling you Sophie: we're not human."

Sophie slowly started to walk back towards him. "So…. What? You're saying that- I'm an alien?" She asked shakily, as if she were horrified at the idea. Fitz couldn't control himself: he burst into laughter. Sophie blushed, even though Fitz was laughing more at her reaction than her thought of being an alien. "No," he said after he caught his breath, "I'm saying that you're an elf." Sophie blinked at him multiple times. "….. An elf?" she said. Fitz nodded. It was her turn to laugh this time. "Y-you can't possibly be serious," she said, gasping from her laughter. "An elf? Really? That's the best you can do?" When Fitz just looked at her in puzzlement, Sophie shook her head. "Okay, that's it. I'm outta here."

Panic sweet through Fitz as he tried to catch up to her. "Sophie wait up," he said as he tried to grab er arm. Sophie snatched it away. Fitz was about to plead with her again when a low growl was heard in the air. Sophie stopped and swung around, probably recognizing the sound from earlier. Fitz froze and paled significantly as the growl got louder, making it clear were the sound was coming from. Sophie looked dow at his satchel bag, then up to him, arching an eyebrow. "Did that just come from your….. bag?" she asked, pointing slightly down at it.

Muttering curses, Fitz reached down into his bag to pet the little creature. Sophie furrowed her eyebrows as the loud, threatening growls softened a bit. "Okay, what is in there?!" She screeched, making Fitz cringe- but not because it was loud. The minute she said that, the creature pounced right out from his bag, making Sophie scream and stumble back a but. The tiny animal landed right in front of Fitz, growling as if she was a threat. As Fitz slowly reached his hand up to pinch the bridge of his nose, Sophie observed the little creature. She recognized it as a fox- a fennec fox **(A/N: For those who don't know what a fennec fox looks like, search them up- they're soooooo adorable and are all ears! They're so cute! XD)**

She looked up at Fitz with disbelief. "You have a fennec fox as a pet?" she asked him incredulously. The fox hissed at the word 'pet' and it's ears perked up as if it were offended. Fitz sighed as he went to gather up the tiny furball. "He's not a pet- he's a companion," Fitz corrected her as the fox kept glaring at her. "And he only jumped out at you because he thought you were a threat to me- come on man, it's okay, she's not gonna hurt us," he told the fox, which reluctantly climbed up his arm, all the way up to his shoulder. "Well, hopefully," Fitz mutters before bringing his attention back to the startled girl.

Sophie looked at the creature, whom of which was still glaring at her, with skeptic eyes. " _That_ thing is your protector? Really?" she asked, cocking an eyebrow in disbelief. Fitz understood why. Kaye probably looked like he could do little to know damage. But he's a quick little bugger; and he's much more terrifying than he looks. "Kaye could've actually ripped your throat out if you made any motions to attack me," he said calmly, ignoring the girl's horrified look. "But he doesn't do it often. He usually gives them a warning swipe or two if they get too touchy, but luckily us elves are not into violence so yeah," he said with a shrug, before adding, "and he's a _companion_." At the mention of elves, Sophie rolled her eyes again. "You still think I believe that whole 'elf thing?" she asked him.

Fitz groaned. Man, this girl was difficult. "We are elves, Sophie. I don't really know what else to say to you," he tried to reason with her but she just got more sarcastic. "Okay then, fine: I'm an elf. Do I help Frodo save the mid earth? Or do I help make toys for Santa in the north pole?" She asked mockingly, arms crossed and all. Fitz sighed and shook his head, trying his hardest not to smile. Kaye simply growled at her and he rolled his eyes. "Knock it off, fuzzball," he told I'm and Kaye hissed at him before going back to glaring at Sophie. Fitz rolled his eyes agin. What a drama queen.

"Listen, would it help if I show you?" he asked her and she scoffed. " _Show_ me? Oh yeah sure. This oughta be good," she said, rolling her eyes. Fitz suppressed a smile. She was in for a _biiiig_ reality check.

 **Hey guys. Remember when I said that this was going to be a oneshot? I lied. Well, sorta. I mean, I could, make it into a oneshot, but you know how I tend to overwrite so i might make into a 4 part instead, possibly five. Idk yet.**

 **Oh and also Kaye's name is pronounced KAY. I was thinking of just spelling it like that but it looked kinda weird so I added an e in it. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this and I apologize for any mistakes as I literally typed this with the dull ends of two pencils, because of my difficulty of typing with fake nails. Ugh. But yeah I hope you guys liked this, feel free to review.**

 **-Someonewhodoesntcare**


	2. A Little Bit of Trouble

**Yo peoples. What's good?**

 **…That's all I really have to say.**

"Of course I'm not actually angry at her," Fitz said as Kaye watched him pace back and forth in his room. "And of course I don't actually blame her. It was out of her control." Fitz sighed and plopped down onto his bed, his hands curling into fists. "But someone's gotta take the blame! And I'm still not taking back what I said," he snarled. "She knew there was something wrong with her mind, she knew- and yet she still let him go with her," he said resentfully.

Kaye squeaked at him. Fitz glared at the fox. "My father is broken, I have a right to be childish!" he exclaimed. At that, the little creature's ears drooped and he looked away. Fitz sighed and walked up to him, scooping the tiny body in his arms. "I know Kaye," he said, flopping back down onto his bed. "But it still hurts." Even though Fitz did feel a little bad pinning all of his pent up anger on Sophie, he wasn't in a good place right now either, so he didn't think properly. But it still hurt a lot, so when it came to the blaming, Sophie was his first option.

They laid there in silence until Kaye piped up again. Fitz looked down at the fox curled up on his chest ad frowned. "Apologize?!" he asked him as if he were insane. "No way! If anything, she should come and apologize…" he muttered, turning to his side. Kaye slipped right off his chest and rolled around to give Fitz he most deadpan look a fox could make. Fitz narrowed his eyes at him. "So why if she already did? Se should do it again," he grumbled under his breath. He knew everything he was saying was absolutely stupid but as he said before, he wasn't in a state of mind to think right about things.

The fennec fox rolled his eyes at his companion and Fitz sighed. He knew his little furry friend was right. He knew he should jus go and apologize to Sophie already. He did feel bad about making her feel more terrible about the whole situation at the same times he felt happy about it. He was sad and tired, and hurt, and angry, but most of all, he was upset. Upset at Sophie. Upset at his dad of going with her anyways. Upset about his guilt. Upset at his animosity towards Sophie. Upset that his family had to go through this. Upset at the whole situation, the whole world even- but mostly, upset at himself.  
Fitz didn't even dream about listing all the things he was upset at himself for. He doubted there was enough paper in the world. He doubted there was enough _words_ to describe it- or maybe just the right ones. Yeah, probably just couldn't find the right ones.

Fitz's melancholy thoughts were interrupted by his sister burning through his door. He sighed, already used to her just barging in. Apparently knocking wasn't a thing in his family. "What's up, Biana?" he asked her. His sister looked at him frantically. "Fitz, it's Sophie," she said. Fitz ground in annoyance. It was not so much that he was mad that they were talking about Sophie because he was mad at her, more so the fact that he had been thinking about her too much and a topic change would be more than helpful. Nevertheless, he replied, "What about Sophie?"

"You were right," Biana said, "About her mind being damaged." Fitz sprung up at that. "I was?" he asked, looking at he confusedly. Biana nodded. "But it's fixed now and now she's going to heal dad's broken mind!" Fitz's eyes widened. "She _is_?!" he asked in disbelief. Biana added again and pulled him to his feet. "Yes now c'mon, we have to go and apologize before she does it!"She yelled before running out of his bedroom, having Fitz standing there with a completely blank expression. He turned and looked behind his shoulder to see Kaye looking at him with a smug look. 'I told you so' was written all over the little fox's face.

Fitz huffed at the tiny creature. "Shut up or I'll make you wear a tie," he muttered, going over to his closet to change. The little mongrel hissed at that and he rolled his eyes. "I hate it when animals outsmart you," he mumbled to himself as he picked out a more suitable tunic to wear.

* * *

Sophie sat at he usual table she met up at with her friends. Fitz was already there, and smiled at her in acknowledgement. "Hey Sophie," he greeted her and she smiled back, trying her hardest not to blush. "Hey Fitz," she replied, taking a seat beside him. Dex and Biana soon came over and sat across from the two. "Hey guys!" Biana greeted them, cheery as usual, and giggled when Kaye poked his head out from Fitz's bag, which was on the table. "And hello to you too, Kaye." The tiny animal was taking a nap in Fitz's bag, which usually meant that any sound to wake him up would make him angry at you (and that was never good), but the small fox seemed to have a soft spot for Biana. Whenever he heard her voice, his ears would always perk up and he would always look brighter at the sight of the young girl. Kaye made a cute little sound of affection as a greeting to Biana, before curling back up into a ball and resting his head down.

As Biana cooed at the sight and petted him gently, Dex only shook his head in confusion. "I still don't understand why you bring that thing around wherever you go," he said. Kaye popped his head up to hiss at Dex, making the redheaded boy flinch backwards. Fitz sighed and rubbed Kaye's head to calm him down, although it didn't stop the fox from narrowing his eyes to slits at Dex. "He's my friend," Fitz said simply, shrugging his shoulders. Dex still show his head slightly as he took a bite of his sandwich. "Still weird," he murmured to himself. Kaye glared at him and growled something that made Fitz snap his head towards him to give him a scolding look. "Hey- watch it," he warned the fox, who just muttered to itself before lying its head back down. Biana, Sophie, and Dex all stared at him curiously. Only Fitz (and some polygots) could really understand the little fox. Fitz had told them that it sounds like growls and chuffs to him as well, but he an still understand what he's saying. Others who don't know Fitz well just assume that he's either talking to himself or pretending that he knows what its saying. Neither of the assumptions were correct. Dex leaned forward and looked at Fitz curiously. "What did he say?" he asked him. Fitz gave Dex an apologetic look. "Uh…. Something offensive," he told him truthfully and Dex lined back, looking a little offended. Sophie and Biana however, only chuckled- that is, until Stina came along….

"Oh look- it's the freak and geeks table," Stina mocked, having some of her followers laugh from behind her. Dex stared up at Stina with a look of disgust. "Why are you here?" he asked, although from the sounds of it, Sophie suspected that by 'here' he really want existing at all. Luckily, Stina didn't catch on. "I'm allowed to go wherever I want, you nerd," she said rudely. Sh then peered at Kaye and sneered. "I see Mr. Golden Boy still has his pet rodent with him," she remarked. Kaye immediately jumped at her, making her scream, but Fitz caught him before he could do any harm. "First of all- not a pet; companion," Fitz corrected, making the girls roll their eyes. "And second of all, he not a rodent- he's a fox." Stina scoffed, trying to recover from the small scene she made earlier. "Does it look like I care what kind of creature your stupid pet is?" she asked indignantly. "Companion," Fitz muttered inaudibly to himself, as he let Kaye go on the table, once he was sure that the fennec fox wouldn't try anything.

Kaye snarled angrily at Stina, fully ready to pounce if she made one wrong move. Stina laughed at this. "Is your pet fox really threatening me, Vacker?" she asked in-between her laughter. Sophie and the others refrained from telling her that it was actually preparing itself to full-on attack her if she she did anything t thought was threatening to Fitz; Sophie, because she knew the girl wouldn't listen to her, Biana and Dex, because they actually wanted to see it happen.  
Fitz sighed, not at all in the mood to deal with the curly haired bully "Stina, would you please just leave us alone?" he asked her. She snarled at him with an ugly grin. "Oh yeah? Who's gonna make me?" she asked, looking at Kaye. "This ugly fur ball?" the girl reached out to grab Kaye and everyone braced themselves for the attack that was sure to happen:

But it never came.

Instead, the collective group looked on in shock as Fitz glared at Stina more fiercely and dangerously than they'd ever seen before, holding her extended arm in a tight grip. "You will _not_ touch him," he said in a dead serious tone, his voice steely and threatening. Beside him, Kaye looked at the girls with the most smug look Sophie had ever seen an animal make before- maybe even a person too. If animals could smirk, his was the best representation one could give.

To say that Stina and her friends were scared by the look she was receiving was an understatement. Sophie wore a shocked expression, Biana looked proud of her brother, and Dex's face was turning red from desperately trying to hold in laughter at the sight of Stina's horrified expression. But the girl cleared her throat and tried to put on a menacing look, though it looked pathetic behind the fear. "Let go of me, Vacker," she snapped with disgust, although the wariness was well heard in her tone. Fitz glared at her for another moment or so, before promptly letting go of her arm and sitting back down. The boy tore off a piece of his sandwich and fed it to Kaye, who munched on it happily, all while glaring at Stina and her friends.

Rubbing her sore wrist, Stina glared angrily at the group (although not so much at Fitz, who was still looking at her like he wanted her to drop dead). "You all will pay for this," she spat out. "Just wait till I tell Dame Alina." Fitz's expression never faltered at hr words, not at all scared of the rather dumb threat Stina had made. He remained silent as he continued to stare coldly at Stina as she hurriedly retreated with the rest of her friends. Once she was far enough to be out of sight, Fitz dropped his stare and returned to eating his sandwich in peace. Sophie stared at him with surprise. She had never seen Fitz that protective before.

Meanwhile, Dex had finally relented, laughing so hard that he was banging his fists on the table with literal tears falling from his eyes. Out of the corner of her eye, Sophie saw Stina flush red out of embarrassment as she glared at ex from afar, and couldn't help but smile to herself. Fitz had really shown her. "That… Was….. Absolutely fantastic!" Dex exclaimed, wiping the tears from his eyes. "Her face was just—" he bursted into another bout of laughter, making Biana giggle along. Fitz just shrugged as he calmly fed another large piece to the fennec fox. "He's my friend— and no one threatens my friends like that," he said as Kaye rubbed against his arm.

Sophie smiled at that. "I think she got what was coming to her," she said simply. "She crossed a line she really shouldn't have." "You got that right," she heard Biana mutter a bit bitterly, though her expression softened when she glanced at Kaye, who was sitting beside Fitz's arm, rubbing his face with the back of his paw. "I mean, how could somebody threaten something so cute?" Kaye perked up at that, giving her an unamused look. She only chuckled though. "You can deny it all you want you little fur ball, but facts are facts; you're cute," she said with a shrug. The little fox rolled its eyes, grumbling something under its breath. Beside him, Fitz chuckled softly. Biana quirked an eyebrow. "What did he say?" she asked curiously. Fitz didn't look up, although an amused smile was on his face. "He said, 'I'm not cute, I'm terrifying.'" That got a laugh out of everyone.

Kaye, already significantly grumpy about the whole ordeal, was NOT amused.

 **So, how'd** **you guys like it? Review your thoughts if you'd please, any feedback is acceptable. A future reference note; most of these will be two little stories in each chapter, either being connected or not. Anyways, I hoped you guys liked this, and thank you for the wonderful reviews I got on the first part!**

 **-Someonewhodoesntcare**


	3. Kaye Tries to Help

**Hey guys I'm back! I'd like to thank you all for the wonderful reviews you guys left me, they're too sweet! You guys never hesitate to put a smile on my face and I rarely take the time to smile anymore since I just don't like doing it often. But your reviews made me anxious to post a new part so here it is! Hope you enjoy!**

Fitz was in the middle of his elementalism class, copying down the notes written by the teacher. The boy did not usually get distracted in class easily, but when you have two furry ears poking out of the front of your cape right under your nose every now and then, your attention tends to waver a bit. Fitz sighed as Kaye yet again popped his head out from under the cuff of Fitz's cape where he was resting. The tiny creature was tired of being inside the dark bag, so Fitz reluctantly agreed to let him stay inside the front part of his cape. But the little mongrel kept poking his head out and his ears were starting to leave marks on Fitz's neck from pushing into it too much.

"Kaye..." Fitz whispered, trying to discreetly pat the fox's head back into the cuff with his chin. It worked for a while, but it wasn't long until he had furry little ears poking into his neck again. Fitz sighed and lifted his head up a bit, allowing some space for Kaye's protruding ears. The little fox had his tiny paws hanging over the edge of Fitz's cape cuff and was looking left from right. The teal eyed boy rolled his eyes, internally cursing the furball's natural curiosity. He was thankful nobody has noticed yet, though he knew someone was bound to soon if he didn't get Kaye to retreat back into his cape. "Kaye, I'm trying to do schoolwork," he hissed down at the little creature, eyes never leaving the board. Kaye simply turned to face Fitz, chirping out a small reply. Fitz rolled his eyes. "No, I don't need any help," he said, as Kaye was referring to the worksheets that had been handed out at the beginning of class. Fitz was done the notes and had now moved on to the worksheets, but was finding it increasingly harder to concentrate due to the fox chattering away inside his cape. Kaye chirped again, this time pointing his paw to the paper repeatedly. Fitz groaned. "I don't care if you know the answer! Get back in there!" He whisper-shouted down to the fennec fox, lightly swatting his paw away with his pencil before anybody noticed it.

Unfortunately for him though, they did. Carlia, one of the girls in Fitz's level, noticed Kaye pointing at the papers and cooed at the sight of it. Some of her friends glanced over to see what she was cooing at, and joined in on the adoration of his small friend. Fitz tried not to succumb to the temptation of letting his head bang against the table, only because it would mean he'd hurt Kaye in the process. Speaking of the tiny fox, he was 'adorably' oblivious to the praise he was receiving, as he kept trying to help Fitz out with the questions. "Kaye! Not helping!" He hissed down at him and Kaye looked at him apprehensively, muttering something under his breath. Fitz heard it though, and scowled at him. "I know the answers, Kaye! I'm not stupid!" He told the fox, who just turned its head away defiantly.

As Fitz shook his head at the dramatics of his companion, he didn't notice Rolen, a fellow level five, eyeing him with jealousy as he had now attracted most of the attention of the girls in the class. Being the annoying prick he is, Rolen raised his hand quite pointlessly as he shouted out anyways before he could be called on. "Lady Astiera! Fitz is cheating with his pet!" He yelled quite loudly before sending a smug look Fitz's way. Fitz only regarded him with a look of clear disinterest, mentally questioning why some elves were born with such little intelligence. Lady Astiera didn't have a chance to reply as another boy, Jarel, snorted at Rolen's comment. "You honestly think that pretender can actually communicate with his stupid fox?" He sneered, making most of the male population crack up. Fitz sighed, not bothering to defend himself. He didn't need to prove anything to these people. Kaye however, growled at Jarel. Fitz looked down at his companion with frantic eyes, subtly shaking his head no; not because he didn't want anyone to notice—no, they were way past that point—but simply because he knew what Kaye was planning to do, and he DID NOT want it to happen.

"Kaye, don't even think about it," Fitz warned him, only to get more laughter out of Jarel. "Seriously, Vacker? You think your little rodent friend actually scares me?" He said, standing up and getting out of his desk space. "Mr. Pince," Lady Astiera said in a warning tone, though it was blatantly ignored. By this point, the entire class was watching Jarel as he approached Fitz, who was desperately trying to calm the angry little creature inside his cape cuff. "Jarel, please; don't risk your own life just to prove a point," Fitz pleaded. He was being dead serious, but apparently everybody thought it was a facade as most of the class started to laugh. Even their teacher looked a little skeptical. But everyone's laughter halted quickly after hearing a low, threatening growl that came from Fitz's cape—well, Kaye to be more precise. Everybody looked on in shock as a tiny, furry body leapt out of Fitz's cape cuff, still emitting growls that sounded like they'd belong to a much larger creature than itself. Kaye barred his teeth in a snarl as Jarel came up to the side of Fitz, positioning himself in a protective manner. Jarel stopped at the side of Fitz, who glanced down at Kaye before looking back up at Jarel again, who was now smirking. "You're all talk, Vacker," he said with a small laugh. "You honestly believe that this little pipsqueak will actually protect you if I even just touch you?" He laid a hand on his shoulder. Fitz stared at it—

And calmly watched on as Kaye leapt at Jarel in a blinding rage.

Jarel screamed as the fuzzy little animal started to claw at every part of his face. He tried to pound his fist on it, but Kaye was too agile for him and ended up pounding on his face every time. Everyone gasped in horror as Kaye's nails grew to almost three times their original size as sliced the material of Jarel's school uniform. This was when Fitz realized that Kaye wasn't giving a warning—he was intending to maim. Mumbling to himself about stubborn little foxes and idiotic classmates, Fitz somehow managed to get Kaye off of Jarel's writhing figure. The dirty blonde boy now had cuts and scratches painted all over his face and he looked genuinely horrified. So did most of the class to be completely honest. Sighing again, Fitz kept Kaye in his arms to keep him from attacking again, stroking his fur softly with his fingers in order to calm him down. Luckily it worked to some extent, but that still didn't stop the fox from snarling at Jared every time he looked their way. "I'm sorry Jarel, I tried to warn you," he said calmly. Jarel only shook his head wildly. "Your pet is crazy!" He shouted. Fitz simply rose an eyebrow. "He's not a pet," was his simple response. Rested in his hand, Kate growled threateningly.

Meanwhile, Lady Astiera looked on at the situation with raised eyebrows. This was not exactly a normal incident teachers would have to deal with, so she wasn't exactly sure as to what to do. Clearing her throat, she said, "Mr. Pince, you should go visit Elwin's." the boy did not need to be told twice as he ran out of the room at an incredible speed. Lady Astiera then looked at Fitz, not exactly sure about what to say to him. The brunette smiled sheepishly at her, the fox still in his arms. Lady Astiera sighed before walking over to his desk. Kaye noticed this and growled deeply, expecting her to be another threat. Fitz shushed him though. "Calm down," he muttered to the creature before making eye contact with the teacher. She looked down at Kaye a little hesitantly before sighing again. "I understand you have a—er, _special_ connection with Kaye," she said, giving the fox another glance. "But must you take your pet with you wherever you go, Mr. Vacker?" "He's not a pet," Fitz said, "he's a companion."

Lady Astiera couldn't help but smile at that. She went to pat Fitz on his shoulder, but was stopped when Kaye sprung out of Fitz's hands, once again standing protectively in front of him with barred teeth. Astiera raised her eyebrows in shock as Fitz slowly dragged a hand down his face in what seemed like exasperation. "Quite a protective 'companion' you got there, huh Mr. Vacker?" She said amusedly. "You have no idea," Fitz muttered annoyedly, rolling his eyes slightly. "I apologize for Kaye's behaviour." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Might you be able to explain why he was in the cuff of your cape in the first place?" She asked him. Fitz shrugged. "He didn't like the bag." Lady Astiera thought about it for a moment. Fitz himself really didn't do anything wrong—and though her lesson may have been interrupted, she knew Fitz was a smart boy and was trying not to draw attention to himself from the beginning. She knew that he didn't mean for any of this to happen. After a while of thought, the teacher shrugged. "Well, I suppose you can continue to bring your little friend to class so long as you can assure he won't go wild again," she said. Fitz nodded, smiling at her gratefully. "I will," he assured her, "and he's very sorry about his behaviour," Fitz nudged the fix a little at that, who turned around to his at him, "aren't you Kaye?"

Despite the expectant look he was being given at the moment, Kaye was indeed not sorry. In fact, he told Fitz that himself, much to the latter's chagrin. "Kaye, don't be a brat—apologize." He said firmly. But Kaye shook his head, squeaking out something in a defiant matter. Fitz rose his eyebrows and crossed his arms. "Um, yes you are apologizing!" By now, everyone had turned to watch the argument with both curiosity and amusement. Lady Astiera herself couldn't help but smile amusedly as she watched the two banter back and forth with each other. "Kaye c'mon, you know what you did was uncalled for." Squeak. "Okay so he was 'out of line': so were you! Not everything has to end in violence!" Another squeak. "What do you mean 'it's more fun that way'?! Not for me it isn't!" A chirp. "It doesn't matter whether you went easy on him or not—which I know you didn't, mister—you have to apologize!" A saucy chirp. "*raises eyebrows* Oh don't you take that tone with me." At this point everyone in the classroom were either laughing to themselves or thoroughly amused by the conversation. Fitz realized he'd been arguing with Kaye for a while now and blushed slightly. He shook it away though and gave Kaye a reprimanding look. "Kaye that's enough—apologize now," he demanded.

Kaye growled although it sounded more whiny than fearsome, jerking his head to the side, defiantly refusing to look Lady Astiera in the eye. Fitz put his hands on his hips and raised an expectant eyebrow. " _Now_ , mister," he said with authority. Though the fox had resorted to grumbling under its breath, it still reluctantly raised a paw out to Lady Astiera. Fitz looked up and smiled at his teacher. Lady Astiera tried her best not to beam at the stubborn yet adorable little creature as she shook its paw before heading back to the front of the class. Carlia squealed in adoration. "Kaye is absolutely the cutest, Fitz!" She exclaimed with most girls nodding in agreement. Fitz simply snickered as his friend started to grumble even more.

* * *

Sophie and Tiergan waited patiently for Fitz to arrive for their telepathy lesson— well, at least _Sophie_ did. Tiergan, however, was muttering under his breath about Fitz's tardiness. Sophie discreetly rolled her eyes at her mentor. "I'm sure he has a good reason," she assured him. Tiergan rolled his own eyes and huffed. "Oh, I'm sure he will," he said sarcastically. Sophie only shook her head, trying to suppress a smile. As it would turn out, he did indeed have a good excuse for being late— five minutes later, Fitz stumbled into the room, walking extremely awkwardly. The boy would occasionally twitch from time to time, and it seemed like he was muttering under his breath to himself. It was only when something in his shirt jerked forward, causing him to almost fall flat on his face, did Sophie realize that he was actually talking to someone they both knew very well.

However, this didn't occur to Tiergan, as the man immediately tried to stifle his laughter with little success. Sophie shot him a look as she went to try and stand Fitz upright. "Are you alright?" she asked, and Fitz could thankfully tell from her eyes that she understood the situation. "Yeah, thanks," he said gratefully, glaring down at his shirt. "That was some entrance, Fitz," Tiergan said, his face fading red from laughing. Fitz blushed a little, embarrassed. "Yeah, sorry about that," he said, running a hand through his hair. "And sorry about being late— I tried to tell Kaye that he couldn't come to telepathy, but—" he was cut off when a furry little creature hoped out from the top of his shirt, making him squirm again. Fitz sighed. "—He came anyway," he finished, looking at the fox unamused.

Luckily, Tiergan had already known about Fitz's small companion, but had never had the chance to meet him or even see him up close. The man raised a little from his chair to get a better look at the fox, who was standing beside Fitz protectively. "So this is the infamous Kaye," he mused, looking down at the small animal with a smile. Kaye perked up at the mention of his name, and he shot his head towards Tiergan. Not recognizing the man, the animal started to snarl, moving in front of Fitz a little more protectively. Fitz rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Cut it out, Kaye," he said, nudging the fox a little with his foot. Kaye frowned at Fitz, not very happy about being nudged while trying to do his job, and chuffed annoyedly. Fitz only sighed and gave Tiergan an apologetic glance. "Sorry about him, sir," he said, "He's pretty protective." Tiergan only smiled again. "Not at all, Fitz— and remember it's Tiergan," he corrected him, making Fitz nod and apologize again. Tiergan only dismissed it again, looking down a the animal curiously. "Can I ask why he wanted to come here with you so badly?" he asked, smiling at the tiny creature's curiosity as it made its way around the room, inspecting it fully.

Fitz sighed. "I told him he'd only be staying in my locker for an hour, maybe two at the most— he's done it before and he was fine. He just slept most of the time while he was in there. Truthfully, I don't actually put him in there often, I usually keep him in my bag—which he also doesn't mind—but since today you said this lesson was going to be important, I thought that it may be better he doesn't hear anything, despite the fact we'd be transmitting; I just don't want him to worry," Fitz said, making Sophie smile at his thoughtfulness. "But ever since I didn't let him come with me to Fintan's mind healing, that's all he's been doing; nonstop worrying. He's been extra protective—I didn't even think that was possible to begin with—and won't let me leave his sight. I can't keep him in my bag anymore because he can't see me, so Ive been carrying him in the cuff of my cape for a while," Fitz then turned to frown at the fox, who was still roaming the room. "But even that wasn't enough for him because the puffball up and jumped into my tunic when I refused to let him come with me." Sophie couldn't help but giggle at that, not noticing the way Fitz's face softened at the sound of it. Tiergan did though, and he tried to hold back a smirk. "He knows what we do in telepathy, so he wanted to come to make sure nothing bad would happen."

Sophie tried not to seem a little hurt by that. "What, do you not trust me or something?" Sophie asked, faking a chuckle. Fitz saw right through it though and sighed deeply, closing his eyes. "Sophie, I trust you with my life," he said honestly and truthfully, failing to notice the blush that suddenly appeared on her face, as he faced Kaye with an accusing look, "it's this moron who has the trust issues." The little fox, despite having been facing the other way, immediately perked up and turn to give Fitz a slightly offended frown. Fitz rolled his eyes. "Yeah, I'm talking about you, you little fuzz face. Don't even try to act like it's not true," he said. Kaye frown turned into a defiant scowl, and the fox started to grumble to itself. Rolling his eyes at the animal's behaviour, Fitz said, "He's still mad at me for not taking him to the healing." Tiergan nodded understandingly. "So now he isn't very trusting," he inquired, raising both eyebrows. Fitz rolled his eyes again and crossed his arms. "Tell me about it," he muttered.

Beside him, Sophie shrugged. "We can do the lesson without transmitting if you want," she suggested. Fitz's face lit up and he looked at her thankfully. "Sophie, you're amazing!" he said, again failing to notice the blush creeping up on her cheeks. Behind them, Tiergan snickered, shaking his head at the obliviousness of his two students.

.

After school, Sophie and Fitz (and Kaye) went back to her place to work a little more on implanting memories. Kaye thankfully decided to take a nap while they practiced. The two elves were able to focus more, now that Fitz didn't have to worry about Kaye interrupting them with their practice, and after a couple of tries, Sophie was able to implant a new memory into Fitz's mind. With an hour and a half of hard work, the two got increasingly better and by the time they'd stopped for a break, Sophie had managed to implant a memory into Fitz's and that he wasn't in.

Sophie and Fitz rested on her bed, a little exhausted from all their hard work. Fitz looked up and smiled at her. "I still can't believe you'd never done that before and yet you're already a natural at it," he said in awe. "You're incredible, you know that?" Sophie blushed profusely. "You think so?" she asked shyly. Fitz snorted a bit. "Uh, yeah," he said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You're Sophie Foster— the most awesome elf in the entire elvin world!" Sophie couldn't help but laugh as he started bowing to her, saying that it was an honour to 'be in her presence'. "Oh, stop it!" she said with a giggle, shoving his shoulder with her hand. Fitz however, grabbed it at the last second causing her to fall down onto the bed with him.

The two telepaths laughed amongst themselves. "Wow, this is actually really comfy," Fitz said, bouncing on her bed a little. "Comfier than mine at least. I could _definitely_ take a nap in here." The brunette stretched himself out, laying his head a bit bellow her pillow as he pretended to actually sleep on it— well, that's what Sophie thought at least until she saw his face soften and relax, actually indicating that he could fall asleep right there and then. "Um hello, this is my bed, not yours," Sophie said with a laugh as she playfully pushed his body off her bed with her feet. Though Fitz could've easily stopped himself from falling completely, he instead decided to dramatically fall of the bed as if his body was immobilized.

Sophie giggled until she heard a deep, threatening growl. In an instant, Kaye was in front of Sophie, snarling at her. Sophie raised her eyebrows, wondering how the small creature had leapt so fast— and _far_. Her bed was a good few meters away from the table he was resting on. This little fox is just full of surprises.

Fitz groaned loudly from the floor. "Would you relax? She's not gonna do anything," he said. Kaye peered over the edge of the bed before jumping beside Fitz. He still looked suspiciously at Sophie as she joined them on the ground. Fitz sighed. "Sorry about him. Like I mentioned before, he's gone into ultra protective mode ever since— well, y'know…." he said, trailing off at the end and Sophie nodded, swallowing the lump in her throat. The two still preferred not to talk about what happened at Fintan's mind healing, as Fitz knew Sophie was still very affected by Kenric's death.

"I can understand why, don't worry," Sophie assured Fitz and he gave her a somber smile. Kaye, not understanding why the atmosphere had gotten so sullen all of a sudden, glanced back and forth between Fitz and Sophie in confusion. After a while he sighed and walked over to Fitz, biting down softly on the cuff of his tunic sleeve. Fitz watched in confusion as the tiny fox slowly dragged his arm with every little paw step he took. Kaye kept walking until he was well beside Sophie, then abruptly dropped Fitz's sleeve, causing his hand to land on hers. Sophie and Fitz both widened their eyes, looking at their hands, and while Sophie blushed (again), Fitz looked at Kaye. The fox was gazing back at him with an expectant look before rolling its eyes and taking its two front paws, touching them together. Fitz couldn't help but smile at Kaye's attempt to make them feel better. He had to admit though, it was working.

As he and Sophie laced their fingers together, smiling at each other warmly, Kaye just sat there— he didn't really know what else to do now that he'd successfully made Fitz feel better. Shrugging his tiny little shoulders, the fox decided on sitting down, rubbing his face with a paw.

 **Oh lord.**

 **Sorry, this is reeeaaaally long, I really didn't mean for it to go that way but it just ended up happening and—**

 **Sigh.**

 **Okay well anyways, despite the longness, I hope you enjoyed this, there's another part to come. I'm afraid to admit that I'm planning on the next one to be the last one of this book, but who knows, maybe that will change. It just depends how much I overwrite on _that_ one too *rolls eyes*. My apologies again for length, and I'll try to update soon!**

 **-Someonewhodoesntcare**


	4. Protective Foxes and Revealed Secrets

**Hey peoples! It's Nel here!**

 **Sorry I haven't updated in a few. Schoolwork's been killing me, ugh. But I'm back with a new chapter! I'm afraid to say this might be the last. It honestly just depends on how much I write. Knowing me and my habit of overwriting literally EVERYTHING, I wouldn't put it past me to make a chapter five. *sighs* Why am I so difficult? Oh well, here's chapter four anyways!**

 **P.S: I went to go see the movie IT with my sister and her boyfriend a few nights back; It was soooooo good! I loved it! Especially Richie! At first when I heard about I was like, 'yeah, uh, hell to the motherf*ckin no.' I don't mess with clowns. I hate them, in fact. Clowns and I, we don't have a very good track record. But then I started getting really interested in it and I found out Richie is frickin hilarious so I went with my sister and I was legit the only one in the theatre who wasn't scared at the jump scare parts and stuff. I was just laughing and I was like, 'guys this is in the trailer, chill.' I had to calm my sister down sometimes and she's like, almost 24 XD.**  
 **But yeah, I definitely recommend, I'm not usually the one for horror films, cause they almost kill my brain cells as fast as the kids do in my school, but meh and this note is hella longer than I wanted t to be so shoot. Imma just start now...**

 **Enjoy!**

"Cognates—say it with me now—C-O-G-N-A-T-E-S," Fitz said exasperatedly to his furry little friend. The fox just looked at him with the same unamused look ever since they'd gotten to the black swan. Fitz sighed, getting tired of pacing the room as Kaye glared at every step he took. Sophie and him recently just started to train to be cognates and Fitz couldn't of been more ecstatic about it—the same couldn't be said for the furball sitting on the couch with an everlasting look of contempt planted in its face.

Kaye was not having the idea of Sophie and Fitz having a mind link. In fact, he was completely against it. The reason for that, Fitz already knew: the possessive little piece of fluff was jealous—heck, Kaye didn't even deny it. When Fitz accused him of it, he just remained sitting there grumbling about how completely "unnecessary" the idea of "mind merging" as he referred to it, was.

"Dude, stop being a drama queen. Being cognates just means that Sophie and I have a special bond which can help make our telepathy stronger," he explained. Kaye chuffed irritably, causing Fitz to groan. "I know we have a bond too, but it's my the same as me and Sophie's!" He tried to reason with the stubborn fox. Kaye just growled. Fitz sighed. "Kaye, cut it out: you're overreacting," he said, flopping back onto the couch. Kaye's left ear twitched, and Fitz, knowing what that meant, groaned even more. "She's not replacing you Kaye! Honestly, just relax already…." he muttered, positioning himself so that he was sprawled out on the couch on his stomach, resting his chin on his linked hands.

The little fox hopped onto the nearby table and chirped angrily at him. Fitz frowned. "Kaye; shut up—I'm not choosing between you and Sophie," he said, "I care about you both equally." When the fox muttered to itself resentfully, Fitz just rolled his eyes. "Well it is, so stop whining," he retorted. Kaye hissed at him before jerking his head to the side, a scowl placed on the tiny animal's face. He refused to meet Fitz's eyes, despite having sitting on the table that was directly in front of the way Fitz was facing. Fitz exhaled deeply, and closed his eyes. "Kaye; you have nothing to worry about. Listen, I know you're worried that I will stop caring about you but that will never happen, okay? There's absolutely nothing that could ever make me love you any less," he told him sincerely. He knew by the way Kaye's tail flickered that the fox had understood what he meant but he was still facing away from him. Fitz shuffled forward so that he was now leaning over the arm of the couch, and offered him a small smile. "Kaye look at me," he said softly.

It took a couple of minutes, but eventually the little fox sheepishly turned its head towards Fitz, and although he made a show of averting eye contact, Fitz knew that he was still listening to him. "I mean it," he said, dipping his head to level with the fox's. Once again did Kaye act stubborn for a few minutes but when he sneaked a small glance at Fitz, his eyes stayed there. Kaye stood himself up and looked at Fitz, his head tilted slightly. Although the creature was still a little unsure, his eyes were much more open and trusting than before, and his demeanour, less terse. Fitz smiled, realizing that this meant Kaye was 'forgiving' him. Slowly, he moved his head down and closed his eyes. Kaye did the same and moved his head up so his fuzzy forehead met Fitz's smooth one—it was a tender act of friendship the two shared from time to time.

"Hey Fitz, Mr. Forkle wants you to—aww!" A voice interrupted their silent moment and Fitz rolled his eyes, reluctantly turning his head to meet the eyes of his sister, who was grinning widely at the two of them. Behind her stood Dex and Sophie, along with Granite. As soon as Kaye laid eyes on Sophie, he started to growl. Fitz exhaled a deep breath, stroking the animals fur to calm him down. Luckily for him, Sophie didn't seem to notice the fox's animosity towards her. "Mr. Forkle would like you and Sophie to practice some more telepathy exercises," Granite finished for Biana, who as still cooing over the cute sight of Fitz and Kaye.

The news didn't exactly help Fitz's current situation; at all. Kaye turned and looked at Fitz, shooting him a look that pretty much spoke, _'you better not'_. Fitz just sighed and shook his head. "It's not up to us, Kaye," he said as he got up to follow Sophie and Granite to the next room beside them. Kaye quickly jumped up, landing perfectly perched on Fitz's shoulder. He chirped something in Fitz's ear loudly but Fitz, having already been used to the shriekish cry that fennec foxes make, was unfazed by the loudness **(A/N: fennec fox's are actually very loud, which is why I describe Kaye's noises as chirping a lot. They also don't growl when they feel attacked, the screech, but in this case I wanted it to be a growl to differentiate Kaye from other fox's of his kind)**. "You know what Kaye, you're right— it is up to me isn't it? It's just not up to you. And my decision is to go along with it and for you, to deal with it," Fitz replied dryly to his comment. Kaye hissed at him, grumbling angrily under his breath about 'blonde haired thieves'. Fitz just ignored him as he entered the second room along with Sophie and Granite.

Sitting on the couch waiting for them to arrive was Mr. Forkle. The man gave them a warm smile beckoning the two to sit down across from them. For some strange reason, Kaye hopped off Fitz's shoulder and left before he could move to sit down. 'He's probably gonna go and suk in a corner somewhere,' Fitz thought to himself with a subtle roll of his eyes. He and Sophie sat next to each other, waiting for Mr. Forkle to speak. "Mr. Vacker. Ms. Foster," he greeted them each with a nod, which they returned. "Since you two are now training to be cognates," Fitz couldn't contain the small, excited smile that slipped onto his lips, "we need you two to have the upmost trust in one another." Fitz eyed Sophie and she seemed a little nervous. Probably about the secret she wouldn't tell him. Fitz was dying to know, but if she wasn't ready, he wouldn't force her to tell him. "We understand that the two of you might be a little nervous about that," Mr. Forkle said, looking pointedly at Sophie, who blushed slightly, "so we're deciding to move slowly. Your task for today is to continue asking each other questions about one another." Both kids breathed out a sigh of relief. Neither of them really wanted to share any dire secrets.

Sophie and Fitz looked at each other, and Fitz smiled. "Sure," he said, "just let us telepathy books." He got up along with Sophie, walking back to the main room where they'd left their books overnight from yesterday's practice. "Glad there's no secret telling for today?" Fitz asked Sophie, though he already knew the answer. She sighed and nodded. "Let's just hope these questions won't ask anything too deep and personal," she said, shuddering a bit at the thought. Fitz looked down at her and smiled. "Hey, you now you can trust me with anything, right?" he asked her, obliviously missing Sophie's blush when he smiled at her. "Of course I do. I trust you more than anybody," she said, smiling back at him. Fitz grinned. "Good," he said, turning back around towards the table he'd left his book on, "Because these telepathy lessons would be a little hard without—" he cut himself off, gaping at the sight before him:

There on the table, laid his telepathy book; shredded to bits.

Fitz's eyes widened and his mouth gaped even wider. "What th—" he started but stopped when he saw Kaye walk across the couch and onto the table a little to smugly for his own liking. The fox disregarded the book—or, what used to be the book—as he walked past it. He sat down, licking one paw before rubbing it on his face. Then he looked up at Fitz, as if he'd finally realized he was there, and twitched his ear, his tail slowly swaying from side to side. Everything about this animal right now screamed defiance; and it was slowly driving Fitz to insanity.

Ugh, he should've known.

"KAYE, YOU INSANE, LITTLE FUZZHEAD, WHAT DID YOU DO!?" Fitz exclaimed, his hands clutching the sides of his head. In response, Kaye simply dipped his head down to the right of him, gesturing to the disaster scene that was once his telepath book. Fitz's eye twitched and he had to remind himself that strangling the little moron was considered animal cruelty, and that animal cruelty is wrong no matter how tempting the case is. He felt someone softly place their hand on his shoulder, calming his livid figure."It's okay Fitz, we can just share mine," Sophie told him softly, making him feel just a little bit better. But that feeling went away instantly as the minute Sophie turned around to retrieve her own telepathy book from a table nearby, she gasped and stopped in her tracks. Confusing flitted across Fitz's face and he followed her line of sight. When he finally noticed what she saw, his mouth dropped wide open. Kaye had obliterated Sophie's book too.

Blinking a few ones in disbelief, Fitz turned back to look at Kaye, who looked very amused by this whole ordeal. Fitz's hands slowly clenched into tight fists and he glared at his companion. "Kaye, what on earth were you thinking?! Those books are important!" He exclaimed to his fuzzy little friend. In response, Kaye just screeched about how their bond was just as important in a high pitch tone, making Sophie jump a little—which was reasonable, since Kaye didn't screech usually. He only did it when he was really mad. This was one of those times.

Fitz narrowed his eyes at him and crossed his arms, shaking his head. "No Kaye," he said, his voice steely and cold, "not as important as this one."

Kaye's little eyes widened, and the fox looked genuinely hurt. He made a pathetic little whimpering sound, hopping over to Fitz and scratching his paw lightly at his pant leg. But Fitz just turned away. "No Kaye: not now," he said, stepping away from him as he put nodded towards Sophie, who was watching the whole exchange a little uncomfortably. "D-did I do something? Is this because of me?" She asked self-consciously. Kaye was about to snap out that yes, it was all her fault, but Fitz shot him a look that told him to shut up. "No Sophie, it's not your fault that Kaye can't handle his own jealousy," he said, walking towards her. Then he threw a glance at Kaye. "Or himself for that matter." Without another word, Fitz grabbed Sophie's hand and the two walked out of the room, leaving Kaye there looking taken aback and frustrated.

* * *

Sophie screamed out in horror, which finally put a halt to the chaos that surrounded. All eyes landed on Fitz's body, wide eyed and twitching violently with the stupid large bug's tail impaled straight through his chest. Councillor Zarina had zapped one of Dex's gadgets and only Fitz had heard him yell for everyone to get down. He grabbed the cube and threw it away only to be blown backwards by the after effect of the cube, leading him to fall right on the Arthropleura. While Councillor Zarina kept blubbering out excuses, and the Black Swan and Council continued to argue, Sophie ran over to Fitz. He had now stopped twitching but he was dangerously still. Dex unhelpfully mumbled on about how he "killed Wonderboy", while Biana paled significantly at the sight of her brother. But what Sophie was really worried about, was Kaye's reaction.

The fox had somehow convinced Fitz to let him come along, and Fitz had put him on the ground before running towards the cube. Naturally, Kaye followed him, only to watch his friend bounce back right through the large bug's tail. Now the little fox was standing beside Fitz's motionless figure with great concern. He squeaked out a panicked little whimper, and desperately started to tug on his cape, hoping that would cause him to move. Nothing. Sophie watched broken heartedly as Kaye continued to whine, nudging Fitz's face with his over and over again. Eventually, the creature gave up and settled on lying it's tiny head on Fitz's chest, still whimpering and crying. He looked absolutely crestfallen, and a little bit guilty about the fact he couldn't do anything to prevent this. All while this was happening, Sophie noticed with slight disdain as Councillor Clarette soothed the sulking beast, assuring it that it's tail would grow back. Kaye too saw this, and his eyes gleamed with vehement fury at the monster that had hurt Fitz—his Fitz.

Everyone's voices quieted down when the most ireful growl by far, invaded the entire area. Sophie, Biana, and Dex looked down to see Kaye snarling fiercely at the Arthropleura. His teeth seemed longer and much pointier than usual, and his nails had grown to triple their original length. All in all, despite its tiny size, the little angry creature was absolutely terrifying. "What on earth is it doing?" Sophie heard Dame Alina pipe up crudely, only to elicit a horrendous scream when Kaye lunged at the Arthropleura, scratching and clawing its way to glory at the ginormous thing. The bug hissed angrily, and bucked Kaye off of itself, but the nimble animal just landed on its feet and gm ashes its teeth even more. The Arthropleura went to slap the rest of its long tail at him, but what happened next shocked everybody: instead of getting hit, Kaye's jaws widened enormously and clamped down onto the tail. The insect made a sound of discomfort, but before it could try and tug its tail away, Kaye moved faster than anyone had ever seen him move before, and with one violent wrench of his head, ripped the tail right off of the bug.

Every pair of eyes widened to the size of saucers as the Arthropleura howled in agony, shaking in pain. Kaye just glared at the mighty creature, tail still in mouth, and was seething in pure, unbridled rage. Dropping the tail, Kaye went to lunge at the giant bug again. Councillor Clarette tried to communicate with him and make him turn back, but Kaye just looked back and snarled viciously at her, causing her to back away. Dame Alina scoffed and shoved everyone out of her way. "Move! I'll handle this," she said, summoning the little fox with telekinesis into her hands. Kaye started to flail, but Dame Alina started to beguile him, saying words in an extremely soothing tone. If she thought this would calm him down, she was sorely mistaken. While this entire commotion had been going on, Dex had used this as a chance to light leap Fitz back to their hideout. So when the little fox looked back to check on his companion and saw him gone, he lost it.

Kaye screeched, furiously clawing at Dame Alina, causing her to scream in fright and drop the animal away from her. Kaye quickly scrambled to where Fitz's body was and started to chirp distressfully until Biana came and picked his up. Kaye squirmed in her grip, clawing at her and snapping at her (although not nearly as harshly as he had done with Dame Alina), but she stroked his head until his cries of anger turned into scribes of worry. Though he let Biana hold him—being one of the very, very few people he allowed to do so—his ears drooped and he continued to desperately look around for Fitz, crying out in distress as he did so. Biana shushed him soothingly (Dame Alina was not amused by this, claiming the whole ordeal went against the laws of elvin physics) and carefully assured Kaye that Fitz was in safe hands.

Though this calmed him significantly, Kaye was still worried out of his mind and he was begging to see Fitz. Seeing how Sophie and The Black Swam were now gambling with the cache, Biana, not wanting the little fennec fox to be upset anymore, obeyed its wishes and secretly light leaped away.

.

"Ow, ow, ow! Okay, okay! I promise that I'll try not to "almost die" again," Fitz had proclaimed in exasperation the first time he'd woken up, and had been trying to swat away the pillow that Kaye couldn't stop smacking him with. Kaye had chuffed at him with a look full of skepticism, but had dropped the pillow either way, much to Fitz's relief. But it didn't stop the animal from going into extreme defensive mode because of the whole scenario. It had been a few days since the Arthropleura incident, and Kaye hadn't left Fitz's side since. On the occasion of anyone going to meet or check up on him, the fox would viciously growl instinctively, readied in a position to strike at anyone who got too close. It had gotten so bad that eventually, Fitz needed to keep him in his arms for most of the time. The boy also tried his very best not to move around a lot. Seeing as it hurt to even shift over a little bit, he would sometimes grunt or moan in pain, accidentally concerning the life out of the little fuzzball, who would whine and nuzzle him until he was able to convince the creature that he was okay—which would take a loooong while.

Right now, Fitz was just lying down on the bed, a book in one hand, the other absentmindedly petting Kaye, who was curled up beside on his stomach. The fennec fox yawned a bit, making him smile. Kaye hadn't been sleeping the past couple of days as he was keeping watch all night incase something would try and attack him. Fitz had tried to persuade the fox to take even a little bit of a nap, but the stubborn thing blatantly refused. It was good to see that he would now be succumbing to his fatigue.

"C'mon Kaye, I know your tired. Just sleep," Fitz murmured to him, his eyes never leaving his book as he spoke. Kaye made a sharp little squeak of defiance, but his point was overshadowed by the yawn he let out soon afterwards. This time, Fitz did look down at the fox to give him a, _"you were saying?"_ look. Kaye just glowered at him and hissed lightly, turning his head to the other side. Fitz chuckled at the stubborn little animal's actions. "Yeah, alright. You're not fooling anybody you little puffball, I hope you know that," he said, causing the fox to chirp at him angrily, but despite its exhausted figure, it still refused to sleep. Fitz sighed, knowing that the protective bundle of fuzz would not relent, so he chose to use this time to address another thing that's been bugging him for the past week and a half. Putting down his book, he in took a deep breath before speaking. "Listen Kaye," he said softly, "About what I said before—about our bond—that wasn't right; I wasn't right," he looked down at him, "it's just as important." The fox, although still not facing him, started to perk its ears up in interest so Fitz at least knew he was listening. "You know that I'd never actually think that our bond is bad, right?" He got no reply, but Fitz knew what the answer was anyways, and an aching pain clenched in his gut; an aching pain of regret. "I'm really sorry if I ever made you feel insignificant, bud—your my pal—my companion. And I meant what I said before," this time, Kaye did look up, his beady black eyes staring into Fitz's teal ones, "I do love you a lot: and I will always care about you," Fitz offered the fox a small smile. "You're my best friend."

Kaye didn't say anything at first. Then he made a soft, almost purring kind of chirp and nuzzled his head into Fitz's hand **(A/N: Incase you're all wondering, he said, "I love you too" (:)**. Fitz smiled warmly at him, picking him up in his hands. The little fox looked at him soberly for a moment, before closing its eyes. Smiling wider, Fitz mimicked his actions and the two rested their foreheads against one another's. The minute they touched, a little glow of light formed in-between them; it was something that happened from time to time, when the two of them really connect. It actually happened the first day that Fitz had met Kaye.

The two continued their touching embrace, until the sound of a door bursting open was audible. Kaye's eyes snapped open and his pupils dilated. Fitz opened his eyes a little calmer, but the minute he saw the state of his friend's eyes, his own almost popped out of their eyes sockets. "Kaye, you can't do this here, I haven't told them yet," he hissed quickly at him. Kaye looked back at him but he knew that they both knew it was already too late: "Mr. Vacker—" Mr. Forkle's voice was heard in the room, and Fitz barely had time to glance over to his right side to see that the entire collective was standing at the door before Kaye sprung out of his arms. Everyone looked in vast astonishment as Kaye's small body was immediately engulfed with white light, his figure gradually started to enlarge as he fell towards the ground. It wasn't until has hand touched the base of the floor that all the white light left his body, allowing people to see what had become of the infamous fennec fox; but there was no fox in the room.

Crouched down in Kaye's presumed place of landing, was a boy: he looked to be around Fitz's age, and had messy blonde hair and gleaming, ice-blue eyes. He wore a navy blue tunic with a brown sash loosely around the middle, dark pants and greyish coloured boots. His face bore a fiercely protective expression, and he was borrowing his eyes with distrust at every single person looking at him with shock in the room. Getting up slowly, he snarled lightly at them, as if warning them not to make a move. He wouldn't have to worry about that; everyone was too shellshocked to even think at the moment. The only one who seemed the least affected by this whole situation was Granite. He peered over the blonde kid's shoulder to give Fit a look of confusion, who was sitting on his bed with a sheepish expression on his face. "Fitz…?" He questioned, but the single word voiced all of their thoughts: what the hell is going on?

Chuckling nervously, Fitz moved to get out of his bed, hissing lightly when his body protested. Though his week of healing was nearly over and he was starting to feel much better, he still was a little sore from sitting still in basically the same position all the time, let alone with his injuries and everything. The blonde boy whipped his head towards him when he emitted a grunt of pain and little zipped to his side, helping Fitz stand himself up. At the random boy's inexplicable amount of speed, everybody raised their eyebrows even higher (if possible) and by this point, both Biana and Dex were gaping—well, so was Wraith, but nobody could really tell with him for obvious reasons **(A/N: ;))**. Taking in a deep breath, Fitz looked at everybody in the room. "Guys; this is Keefe," he then turned towards Keefe, "Keefe, meet the Black Swan. Although you already know them, so please, don't kill them," he said. Keefe scowled and crossed his arms. "I wasn't going to kill them," he protested. Fitz just gave him a pointed look and Keefe turned away. "... _That_ much…." he added, muttering under his breath.

The only person this entire thing seemed to be clicking with was Sophie. She widened her eyes and gave Fitz a look of disbelief. "Wait a minute;" she said, and looked at Keefe, who stared back, "Fitz, is this….?" Fitz gave her a small smile. "Kaye? Yes he is," he said, draping his arm around the blonde's shoulder, only to grimace in pain afterwards. He concealed it the best he could though, and pulled it off as a grin instead. "Hold on; wait, WHAT?!" Dex exclaimed in absolute shock while Biana just continued to gape unbelievingly at Keefe. Fitz laughed lightly at their expressions. "Yep…" he confirmed, running a hand through his hair.

All of them just basked in total astoundment until Physic walked in, holding a jar of who knows what. "Hey, what are you doing put of bed?" she asked Fitz, initially tuning in on her patient only (source of habit). Then she seemed to notice everyone else's awestruck faces, including the blonde, teenaged boy standing right beside her patient, whom of which she'd never seen before in her entire life. Glancing back and forth between the collective, the new kid, and Fitz, something finally seemed to connect with her. "….Did I miss something?" she asked confusedly.

 **(-(\\)**

 **Okay, so a part five there will be, apparently.  
Ugh. Why am I always like this? Hey guys, Im sorry for the longevity of this stupid chapter, but I hope it didn't turn out as bad as I perceived it to be while I was writing it. Hopefully Y'all can forgive me for my nasty habits, and don't forget to review!**

 **As for me, I'll just be sitting in my room, in a corner, eating some kind of food, i don't know what yet, wondering where everything went wrong.**

 **-Someonewhodoesntcare.**

 **(P.S: I think I'm gonna go with Oreos…)**


	5. Meet Keefe

**Hello guys, sorry for that long hiatus but I'm back! This shall be the last chapter of this story and be warned: it is shit. But I thank you for sticking with me along this way (says to nobody at all). Please enjoy the last chapter of Fitz and the Fox.**

Expectedly, nobody regarded Physic's comment or even mere presence. All eyes were on Fitz and the blonde teenage boy that was once Kaye, now standing beside him. Dex was the first to break the silence. "Yeah, Fitz? Explanation now, please!" he exclaimed, gesturing to Keefe. "Yeah, why is the fox a person now?" Blur asked confusedly. "Hold up—what?" Physic suddenly spoke up and looked at everyone like they were insane. "You mean to tell me that that kid is the fox that I have been trying to pry away from Fitz for this past week?!" Everyone nodded except for Keefe, who growled slightly. He did not appreciate her attempts to separate him from Fitz, especially when he was injured. The brunette dropped his sheepish smile at once and sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Well, I guess I should clarify a few things," he started to say, before being cut off once more. "Um, you think?!" Biana exclaimed to him. "Yeah, start with how the fox became a person," Blur repeated, pointing at Keefe. Fitz glanced back at Keefe, who merely arched an eyebrow at him, before sighing once more. "Okay, for starters, Keefe is an elf; And he's not talentless either," he said before anyone could ask. "He's an empath." "Interesting, but that still doesn't answer why he can turn into a fox," Granite stated dryly. Fitz pursed his lips in annoyance before sighing and trying again. "That's because he's part fae," he answered slowly. This comment was lost on everybody but the adults, who all gasped in surprise and started to murmur amongst each other. Sophie turned around and eyed them all in annoyance. "Care to fill us in?" she asked. The collective halted their chatter and turned to face the youngsters. "Fae's are the ancestor's of elves, Miss Foster," Mr. Forkle explained. "They're like us elves, but unlike us, they are born with pointed ears, are much more territorial and are fighters. They also have the ability to shift into an animal they feel a connection with," he looked over to Keefe. "A fennec fox, for example."

"Many Millennia ago, a terrible fight broke out between the fae's and the ogre's, ending with their vanishment," Squall added. "We were lead to believe that they were all wiped from existence; but as you can see," she eyed Keefe, "that was not the case." Biana walked towards her brother. "Does mom and dad know about this?" she asked him, hands placed firmly on her hips. Fitz gave her a guilty look. "Actually, yes," he said, much to her shock. "You see, some Ogre's still hunt around for any existing fae, dead set on wiping them all out," he gestured to the boy beside him. "Keefe here, inherited his fae culture from his great, great, great, great grandfather. But no one would ever expect that. His parents wanted him to be kept safe, so when we met, they allowed him to stay with us for his own protection. To remain in the dark, since ogre's can't detect a fae whilst they're in their animal form, Keefe stayed as a fox and feigned as my "pet": hence the name Kaye." Dex arched an eyebrow. "Why Kaye?" He asked curiously. Fitz shrugged. "First letter of his name. I just elaborated the spelling," he informed him. Sophie cocked her her to the side. "But why would they trust you?" she inquired curiously.

Fitz sighed, knowing what he was about to say would come with a lot of questions. "Because we're congregated," he told them, and closed his eyes in annoyance as a flood of questions and comments came crashing towards him. "Okay, okay, everybody shut up," he said, waving his arms around to calm them. Thankfully they complied. Sighing out a breath of relief, Fitz opened his eyes and began to explain. "Congregation is a special bond between a fae and another being. Usually this being is another fae, but I," he glanced back at Keefe, "was a rare exception." Granite looked at him with wide eyes. "But you both are so young," he breathed out incredulously. "Very near always, did fae congregation only occur between two individuals whom are far out of adolescence." Fitz just shrugged at this statement. "Like I said, I was a rare exception," he told him simply.

Mr. Forkle spoke up. "I'm curious to know when your congregation had started, Mr. Vacker," he asked him. Fitz felt a small smile begin to creep upon his lips as he remembered the story fondly. "It actually happened when I—we—were four," he explained as he began to recount the tale of their meeting.

 **(A/N: Whilst reading this next part, please keep in mind that elvin children speak from child birth, so if you're confused as to why both Keefe and Fitz's vocabulary is a little above average for their age, that is why)**

 _Flashback:_

 _A four year old Fitz was running through the forest, giggling with delight. Fitz loved the outdoors and this forest was his favourite spot to play. He knew he should've stayed in the yard like his parents had told him to but he couldn't resist: the forest was beautiful and shiny, and full of amazing things and creatures. Fitz loved to venture its seemingly endless infrastructure._

 _A sudden rush through the bushes caught the young boy's attention. Cocking his head curiously, Fitz walked over to it, only to hear the same rush from a bush a few feet away from him. Believing this to be another one of the forest's spectacular creatures, Fitz smiled and ran over to the bush, slowing peering inside of it only to frown in confusion when he saw nothing there. Another brush of a sound came but louder this time and Fitz widened his eyes as he saw a small, baby fennec fox skidded into an open clearing a couple metres away from his spot in the bush. Not wanting to startle the creature, Fitz ducked behind the bush but kept a close eye on the fox, who was seemingly grumbling to itself almost in what seemed like frustration, rubbing its face with its paw repeatedly. A sudden light engulfed the creatures little body and Fitz watched in pure awe as the small fox shifted into the form of a boy, most likely the same age as himself. The boy had messy blonde hair, was wearing royal blue tunic with dark pants, and had icy blue eyes which contrasted greatly with the eyes of its previous form, which were dark brown. The boy seemed to struggle, pulling and tugging his body before giving up and glaring at his foot. He seemed to have gotten it stuck in the bush behind him._

 _Realizing that he might need help, Fitz pushed his shock to the side and stepped out from his place behind the bush to assist the poor boy. "Are you okay? Do you need help?" He asked him. The boy immediately froze and his icy blue eyes locked on Fitz's teal ones. "You saw," he gasped out in fear, immediately allowing Fitz to realize that whatever the boy had done was a secret that he was not supposed to see. When he took another step towards the boy, he immediately shuffled back. Fitz's frowned slightly. He wanted this boy to trust him._

 _"Yeah I saw, but I won't tell anybody, I swear," he reassured the boy, who still looked wary, but at least the panic had left his body. Fitz calmly started to approach him again, causing the boy to tense up. Although he allowed Fitz to approach his leg, he still scooted back away from him as far as he could. Fitz observed it. His foot seemed to be tangled in with the small branches of the shrub. "Your foot is stuck, I'm gonna release it, okay?" He told the boy, before gingerly placing his hands on the branches, tugging them apart to create a wide enough gap so that the boy could slip his foot out of the bush easily. Once free, the boy brought his foot to the front of him, checking it for any scrapes or injuries before timidly looking up at Fitz. "Thanks," he muttered quietly. Fitz smiled at him. "No prob– OOF!" He grunted as he slipped off his balance, knocking his head into the other boy's inadvertently. Groaning, Fitz fluttered his eyes open to give the other boy a sheepish grin. "Sorr—" he cut himself short noticing the boy staring wide-eyed at their pressed foreheads. A glimmer of light caught his attention and Fitz too stared up, only to gasp at the sight of the glowing, gold light spewing out from between their touching foreheads._

 _Fitz couldn't help but stare up at it, fully awestruck. "Wow..." he whispered, fully entranced by the sight above him. The same couldn't be said for the blonde boy in front of him though. He snapped his wide blue eyes down towards Fitz's face to stare at him before eliciting a slight gasp. "CONGREGATE!" He exclaimed, jumping back onto his haunches and pointing at him. Fitz blinked, the light once between their foreheads now diminished, and he looked at the boy with a confused look. "What?" He asked, genuinely perplexed._

 _But the boy just kept pointing and shouting at him with wide eyes. "CONGREGATE, CONGREGATE, CONGREGATE!" He repeated vigorously. Fitz was beyond confused. He didn't know what that word meant, nor why the boy kept shouting it at him like it meant something._

 _"I- I'm sorry, I don't know what that means..." Fitz told him, trying to suppress his confusion. The boy opened his mouth but was cut off by voices in the background. "KEEFE!" Both Fitz and the boy looked up at the two approaching figures of blonde elves, the male having a striking resemblance to 'Keefe'. Fitz assumed these were the boy's parents._

 _Both adults casted a wary glance in Fitz's direction before the female crouched down to Keefe's level. "Keefe, where in Eternalia have you been? You had us worried sick, you know what we tell you about running off while you—" the woman abruptly stopped, shooting another wary look Fitz's way. This obviously had something to do with the secret, he concluded. Keefe did not show the slightest bit of guilt at his mother's words. Instead, he pointed towards Fitz and repeated the same word he had been repeating for minutes now: "congregate!"_

 _The two older elves looked at each other with wide, shocked, almost horrified eyes before Keefe's dad quickly bent down next to his wife as well. "K-Keefe..." He began, looking at Fitz with caution before continuing in a low voice, "what did we say about using those terms around other elves?" But Keefe only shook his head and pointed at Fitz again. "CONGREGATE," he exclaimed affirmatively. Both parents looked at each other again, this time with skepticism, before the boy's mother smiled warmly at him, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder. "Keefe..." She started slowly and Fitz nearly groaned along with Keefe. He knew that voice. It was one of those parent voices that he couldn't stand: the "I don't believe you, but I'm going to let you consider it" voice. Parents might as well just up and tell their child that they don't believe them. It's much less annoying than this._

 _"Keefe, you know congregation does no happen until at least teenage years," she said quietly, but not too quietly so that Fitz couldn't hear. Keefe didn't seem happy with this answer. He only glared at his parents before walking over to Fitz and holding out his hands in front of him. Fitz cocked his head to the side, unaware of what the blonde boy in front of him wanted to do. Keefe only shook his hands in front of him as if to tell him to hurry up. Fitz took a guess and grabbed his hands, intertwining his fingers with the others. Almost immediately, his hands adapted a light, ticklish feeling and he couldn't help but giggle loudly, barely catching sight of what's going on. Between their clasped hands, the same, beaming light from their foreheads was formed, only this time, specs of light floated around them. Behind them, Keefe's parents gaped in awe. This would've shocked Fitz too if he wasn't too busy laughing at the feathery like feeling._

 _Keefe smiled smugly and turned to look at his parents as if to ask, "do you believe me now?" "Impossible..." the father breathed out incredulously. "They're both so young—fae congregation never happens around such a young age!" Fae? 'What's a fae?' Fitz wondered idly between giggles. The woman beside him placed a hand on his shoulder as they both slowly rose from their crouched positions. "This is true, yes, but Keefe is special," she whispered to him, looking at their child lovingly. "After all, he received it so far from the bloodline..." At this moment, both Alden and Della Vacker stumbled into the scene as a result of searching for their son. "Fitz! What did we—" Lord Alden cut himself off as he laid eyes upon the shocking sight in front of him. "—say..." He murmured, too entranced to formulate other words._

 _Della gasped and clutched Alden's arm as Keefe, noticing the newcomers, finally released hands with Fitz. "Alden... He's a..." She trailed off, looking at the blonde boy with a thoughtful glance. Keefe and Fitz glanced at each other, both deeply confused. They didn't exactly know what was going on, as the situation was sort of new for the both of them—more so Fitz than Keefe—and neither knew what was going to happen either. Almost subconsciously, the two reached for each others hand as they awaited the comments of their elders._

 _"Please," the blonde lady practically begged in a desperate, pleading voice. "We pray, you keep this a secret."_

 _End of Flashback_

"After that, our parens agreed that it would be safest to have Keefe live with me," Fitz explained, smiling back to the boy who was standing protectively behind him. "Anywhere else he would've been in danger." As everyone took this into consideration, they realized it all made sense. How connected Fitz was to Kaye in the first place; how strong their bond seemed; as well as how protective they were of each other. Even looking at them now as Keefe let Fitz lean against him to provide support for his currently weak form. For the adults, congregation was a perfectly good explanation; and an interesting one too. They hadn't seen a fae in a very long time. To see one up close now was magnificent. Mr. Forkle himself felt a desire to explore their connection just a bit more, and once voicing this, Keefe looked over to Fitz to see if he was comfortable with that, and once getting confirmation through a small nod and somber smile, nodded in agreement.

Physic however, was still confused about something. She decided this would be her time to speak up. "Well, despite all this explanation, it still doesn't answer my question," she said. Everyone (excluding Keefe) looked at her with wide, bewildered eyes. "...it doesn't?" Dex asked her incredulously, his eyebrow raised high. "Nope," Physic said before turning around to point an accusing finger at Fitz. "Why are _you_ out of bed?"

* * *

Very soon did Keefe become a very valuable asset to the group, both with his empath ability and his transformation ability (faes are natural fighters so there was that too). Fitz couldn't of been happier to be able to have Keefe transform more often. Though they still had to hide the fact that he was a fae from everyone else (especially the council—gnome knows what they'd to him), Sophie and the gang did a good job keeping a secret of Keefe's identity. Once Linh and Tam joined the group, they had to wait a little longer after their initiation in order to tell them as Keefe did not trust Tam at all; he had growled the entire time when he had done a reading on Fitz. The only reason he hadn't been attacking the boy then was because Fitz had (luckily) managed to convince him not to beforehand. For as much of a shock as a tiny fox turning into a teenage boy is, the twins took it surprisingly well. But that did not mean at all that Keefe and Tam liked or trusted each other. Both of them snapped at each other often, Keefe often using his fox form to say rather crude insults at Tam which he could not understand to his advantage—well, did not understand until Fitz had scolded him for it, that is.

Both Fitz and Keefe's connection grew even stronger now that their secret was out. It seemed that their bond thrived in a way that it was not able to when they had something to hide. Even though Sophie and Fitz had a very strong bond themselves (which Keefe was still mildly jealous about), the two had established long ago that their bond was just as special and just as important, so there wee no real problems. Keefe was even coming out of his fox form more often, which Fitz loved. He loved him as Kaye, but seeing his best friend in his true fae form was always a treat too—especially since he could hug him better without possibly crushing him. Although Keefe was very strong in his fox form, they're still small and semi fragile creatures.

And though trouble always seemed to follow the group wherever they went, Fitz knew that they could handle it, and he knew that he'd be safe; because no one was a better friend or protector than Keefe. The two loved each other very much and as congregates, their own abilities improve even more. Together, Keefe and Fitz were a force to be reckoned with and gnome help anyone who tries to pull them apart.

Because unless being viciously attacked by a strong, feral bundle of fluff, sharp teeth and claws sounds appealing to you, it would not be wise to try it.

.

 **That's it! Thanks again for reading this story in the first place and I love all of you! Tootles.**

 **-HWC**


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